Student Government Association Announces Election Results

The Student Government Association at OBU announced results of its student elections Friday, April 10. Students cast votes Wednesday, April 8, through Thursday, April 9. The election followed the annual Hyde Park Chapel Wednesday morning, when student candidates for 2015-16 student-elected school and class officer positions were introduced to the campus community.

Truett Ross, a sophomore from Edmond, Oklahoma, was elected SGA president. Heather Carr, a sophomore from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was elected SGA vice president of internal affairs. Matt Wellborn, a junior from Cache, Oklahoma, was elected vice president for external affairs.

Joel Langford, a rising senior from Coweta, Oklahoma, was elected senior class president, while Andrew Thomsen, a rising senior from Oklahoma City, was elected senior class vice president. Senior class senators include Sam Castles from Tulsa, Oklahoma; Megan Mattke from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; and Emily Montgomery from Frisco, Texas.

Taylor Wilson, a rising junior from Noble, Oklahoma, was elected junior class president, while Ben Burke, a rising junior from Edmond, was elected junior class vice president. Junior class senators include Collin Brickhouse from Altus, Oklahoma; Holly Hutcheson from Shawnee; and Molly Montano from Sherman, Texas.

Alex Lopez, a rising sophomore from Broken Arrow, was elected sophomore class president, while Hunter Doucette, a rising sophomore from Hanover, Pennsylvania, was elected sophomore class vice president. Sophomore senators include Matthew Martin from Irving, Texas; Hunter Sanders from Edmond; and Tyre Terry from Oklahoma City.

Freshmen class elections are conducted in the fall semester after incoming students have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the campus community.

Hyde Park Day was instituted at the university in 1958 after Dr. John W. Raley, then OBU president, visited Hyde Park in London, England. At "Speakers' Corner" in Hyde Park, anyone may set up a soap box and lecture on any topic. Spectators then are allowed to question the speaker. When the event started at OBU, based on the idea of free oratory, SGA candidates would gather in the Quadrangle on campus, set up "political booths" and vie for students' votes.